‘The Nut Job 2’ Set For January 2016

Open Road’s animated indie pic The Nut Jobopened this past weekend and grossed $25.7 million over the four-day MLK Day holiday — a record for the best animated debut for a non-studio film. Now the sequel as been set for January 15, 2016. Will Arnett voiced a mischievous squirrel who plans a heist to get into his town’s biggest nut shop in order to help his pals in the park gather food to survive the winter. Brendan Fraser, Liam Neeson, Katherine Heigl, Maya Rudolph, Stephen Lang, Jeff Dunham, Gabriel Iglesias and Sarah Gadon also provided voices. Peter Lepeniotis directed from a screenplay by Lorne Cameron and Lepeniotis. No word yet who is coming back for the second go-round, but we’re hearing those talks are already underway. The pic was a collaboration of Redrover, ToonBox Entertainment and Gulfstream Pictures.